Watched 1997's Starship Troopers last night. I found it to be an incredibly entertaining flick that provided a lot of laughs, action, and a petty poignant commentary on fascism and the military-industrial complex. The movie is insanely quotable and I'm kinda mad at myself for having avoided seeing it for so long.
"C'mon you apes! Do you want to live forever?"
Formerly PuddinN64 - BBS, Icon, and Portal Mod
"Your friends love you anyway" - Check out Guinea Something Good!
Watched 1993's Last Action Hero today. While I felt that the movie was wayyyyyy too long (Two hours for an action comedy is really pushing it) and that the movie's universe's rules to be super confusing, I found it to be a pretty charming send-up of all of the dumb tropes and cliches that Arnold Schwarzenegger movies at the time had. There were a lot of jokes that I laughed at in this flick and the cameos were pretty entertaining.
With all of that said, I can see why this movie wasn't a smash hit when it first came out, but I don't think it's a total turd with no redeeming value. Probably a good flick to watch on a lazy Sunday.
Formerly PuddinN64 - BBS, Icon, and Portal Mod
"Your friends love you anyway" - Check out Guinea Something Good!
Just back from watching the new Halloween film and I also re-watched the original earlier today.
This new one is worth a watch if you're a Michael Myers fan, but it has a different tone to the original. There were quite a few comedy bits, a few instances of poking fun at traditional slasher film tropes and a few scenes that were references to the original film. It wasn't particularly scary but they decided to use quite a lot of sudden loud noises for jump scares. The first one got me, but after that I don't think any of the others made me jump. The same can't be said for the random group of lads sat to my left, who jumped at just about everything.
One thing I did notice is that there were at least two references to the 1984 film Repo Man. There was a poster for it in someone's bedroom and later there was a scene from it playing on a TV in the background. Any reason they'd be making reference to that film? There were a few other old movie references, but seeing Repo Man show up twice got me curious.
I also saw the newest Halloween movie today.
My thoughts: This flick was an exceptional sequel and really lived up the legacy that the very first film established back in the 70s. Lot of great kills and suspenseful moments in this one while also having a meaningful story. It never felt like this movie was just a cash-in sequel that was trying to make money off of nostalgia.
Definitely go see this if you're a horror fan.
Formerly PuddinN64 - BBS, Icon, and Portal Mod
"Your friends love you anyway" - Check out Guinea Something Good!
Watched "Ready Player One"
And I am feeling a strong decent 7 out of 10.
Super Fun!
also, i am very fricking late for this.
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Watched 1995's Johnny Mnemonic recently and found myself really digging it. This movie has a TON of stupid moments in it (particularly near the ending) and Keanu Reeves has a lot of moments that make you question if he can actually act, but this flick is just goofy 90s fun. Dolph Lundgren and Ice-T play super memorable characters and the core concept of the film (couriers carrying important information through implants in their brain) was actually pretty fascinating to me.
With all of that said, this movie really pales in comparison to 1999's The Matrix as far as 90's science fiction movies with Keanu Reeves go and if you could only watch one, I'd recommend Matrix every time. I'd still recommend Johnny as something mindless to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Also Johnny Mnemonic has a pretty rad pinball machine adaptation so go play that if you ever see it in public. It's fun!
Formerly PuddinN64 - BBS, Icon, and Portal Mod
"Your friends love you anyway" - Check out Guinea Something Good!
Watched Halloween Resurrection last night. This one is so much worse than I remember, but in a weird way it's still kinda fun.
One of the worst things about Halloween H20 for me was that Michael just felt really goofy. I don't know what it was exactly, he just felt less menacing. At least in Resurrection he's back to feeling like a powerhouse, until he gets roundhouse kicked by Busta Rhymes.
As silly as it was, I do think they did a somewhat good job at bringing him back from the dead. At the end of H20 (previous film in the franchise) we actually see him get decapitated, so you wouldn't think they could bring him back for another film and keep the previous film as cannon, but they do. They extend the ending of H20 by showing you that Michael actually cut a guys larynx (to stop him from talking) and put him in his costume, so it wasn't actually Michael who was decapitated but some random paramedic. I'd need to re-watch the ending of H20 to see how plausible that actually is though.
I watched The Meg.
Not dumb enough to be fun. There's moments of brilliance in there, like Jason Statham knife fighting the shark as it leaps through the air, but not nearly enough silliness to be worth the watch.
Mandy, Spider-Verse and First Reformed are probably the best films of the year and y'all gay if you don't see em.
I did one of those Topsters charts for my favourites. I find this a much more natural way of doing it than a numbered list, splitting them into "tiers" gives a broader idea of taste and also means you don't agonise over the order of a top 10.
And the site if you want to do your own.
At 12/26/18 01:20 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: I did one of those Topsters charts for my favourites.
Important addendum to this - if the Patterson-Gimlin footage counts as a film (and it is in fact on topsters as one) then it absolutely becomes part of the top 10.
At 12/26/18 01:20 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: I did one of those Topsters charts for my favourites. I find this a much more natural way of doing it than a numbered list, splitting them into "tiers" gives a broader idea of taste and also means you don't agonise over the order of a top 10.
Higher res
And the site if you want to do your own.
Here's one I whipped up quick, tried not to bust my brain but thinking too long about it. Now I just wait until I realize what huge omission I've made.
At 12/26/18 07:37 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: if the Patterson-Gimlin footage counts then it absolutely becomes part of the top 10.
Would love to hear you elaborate on this
Edit: also I watched Kill List about a month back and rewatched a couple weeks ago. Great film, even in otherwise normal scenes around the house there's such an uneasy atmosphere.
At 12/30/18 02:02 PM, Jackho wrote: Would love to hear you elaborate on this
Utterly iconic footage. Cryptids are one of my favourite things, and it's the crown jewel. The best hoax of all time and even all these years later and knowing all the history behind it and Patterson himself, it can still give me that "but what if it's real" feeling, even if only for an instant.
Edit: also I watched Kill List about a month back and rewatched a couple weeks ago. Great film, even in otherwise normal scenes around the house there's such an uneasy atmosphere.
I've been waiting for Wheately to make something even half as phenomenal since 2011. Has been putting out good, not great, films ever since.
Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Let's see those Best of 2018 lists, fam. Mine as of now:
- The Other Side of the Wind
- First Reformed
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Support the Girls
- Paddington 2
- Fatal Pulse
- Fraud
- Sorry to Bother You
- The Green Fog
- The Wild Boys
Oh also I tried doing the Topsters thing and it is maddening and impossible but here goes.
At 12/26/18 07:37 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: Important addendum to this - if the Patterson-Gimlin footage counts as a film (and it is in fact on topsters as one) then it absolutely becomes part of the top 10.
It totally counts! It's gotta up there among the most important and influential films ever made imho. Basically the birth of modern media culture in a lot of ways.
At 2/12/19 06:49 PM, Dr-Worm wrote: Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Let's see those Best of 2018 lists, fam. Mine as of now:
I only saw one 2018 film and that was Halloween because a coworker wanted me to go see it with him. It was pretty alright.
At 2/12/19 06:49 PM, Dr-Worm wrote: Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Let's see those Best of 2018 lists, fam.
I saw fuck all last year. I enjoyed Leave No Trace, Beast and Lady Bird (which was early 2018 over here) and that's about it.
At 2/12/19 06:49 PM, Dr-Worm wrote: Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Let's see those Best of 2018 lists, fam. Mine as of now:
My current, flimsy top 5:
- Mandy
- First Reformed
- Spider-Verse
- Eighth Grade
- Shrek Retold
I've still got around 30 films on my 2018 watchlist and most of my most-anticipated are still on there, so I wont have a definite list for a while.
Went to a short horror films event, We Are the Weirdos II. It's a showcase of short films from up and coming female directors, and the first installment last year was pretty good. Not all hits, but definitely more bad than good in it, so was excited to check this one out.
Unfortunately, it was a pretty weak effort, and a hell of a step down from the first one.
Opened promisingly enough with Catcalls, a short about a man being stalked by two women he flashed and who prove to be more than human. Has some neat creature designs, but bizarrely sets up the guy as a total bastard from the beginning, and then plays out like a traditional horror film with us expected to fear for his life. It's an odd choice, you either want a sympathetic victim we can root for, or a villain who's death we can cheer on, but here the film places this guy in both roles. Decent enough though.
Next up was The Lady From 406, a South Korean film that either had nothing interesting to say or went right over my head. Maybe there was some cultural touchstone I was missing, but if not then that was a very long 15 minute build to a twist a blind man could have seen coming in the first minute or two.
Inseyed followed, an animated short lasting less than 2 minutes with bad animation and character designs and nothing at all to say, just an excuse to put out some vaguely creepy imagery. At least it was short.
Hair Wolf was up next, and probably the strongest of the lot. A metaphor for cultural appropriation, which is something I don't really buy into, but I still found it enjoyable enough. Visually very appealing and has bits and pieces of clever writing, which puts it head and shoulder above everything else here.
This was followed by Puppet Master, a torturously long 15 minutes of admittedly creepy imagery without dialogue that massively overstays its welcome to the point where I began to resent it. Would probably have been enjoyable had it been 1/3 of the length, but at 15 minutes it feels twice that.
Next up, #EATPRETTY, a short about how social media is bad. Ironically for a film railing against superficiality all it has going for it is the visuals, which are interesting (lots of "photographs" which are actually videos of actors remaining as still as possible), the message is very trite, played out and surface level.
Full willing to admit I'd mentally checked out by this point and probably didn't give the others they fair shot. Spent most of Cerulia, another animated short with a bland aesthetic, trying to remember a line from NOFX's Linoleum which had slipped my mind and was bugging me. Goodnight was an unremarkable child abuse metaphor. The only one I think deserves another viewing was Blood Runs Down, which I didn't get much out of tonight when it closed the show as I was already thinking ahead to catching my train home, but of all of them this felt like there might be more to it than I took away.
Here's a couple of my favorite movies from 2018:
Avengers: Infinity War - Not just a great comic book movie but a great movie period.
Bohemian Rhapsody - A great bio film, but Rami didn't deserve the Oscar.
A Star Is Born - Loved the film, great performances from the whole cast.
The Favourite - Odd film, loved the performances from the three main ladies and Nicholas Hoult.
Into The Spider-Verse - Probably the second best Spidey film after Spider-Man 2.
Creed 2 - I always enjoy a good fight film.
Deadpool 2 - The Juggernaut.
Blackkklansman - A film that was both hilarious and haunting.
Aquaman - DC's best film, yes even better than Wonder Woman. Definitely had better villains.
Black Panther - What can I say that hasn't already been said about this film? I would like to say it was amazing but not Best Picture nom amazing, I do believe Michael B. Jordan should have gotten a supporting actor nod instead of Sam Rockwell for play Dubya. I'd like to expand on that later.
Suspiria - A fantastic remake, disapointed it got no Oscar love Thom Yorke's score was amazing among other things.
Halloween - One of my favorite horror films already.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Cuz I love dinosaurs, and have loved this franchise since I saw the original in theatre.
There are so many other films I've seen
At 2/12/19 06:49 PM, Dr-Worm wrote: It totally counts! It's gotta up there among the most important and influential films ever made imho. Basically the birth of modern media culture in a lot of ways.
It's the best.
I pulled down an old Back to the Future poster I must have had up since I was about 16 and put up frame 352 in it's place today.
Anyone heard about the recent controversy with the new Captain Marvel movie?
At 3/4/19 04:21 PM, solitonmedic wrote: Anyone heard about the recent controversy with the new Captain Marvel movie?
Is it a real controversy or is it just nerds being angry at women on the internet again?
At 3/2/19 05:19 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: I pulled down an old Back to the Future poster I must have had up since I was about 16 and put up frame 352 in it's place today.
I've still got a BTTF poster up from at least six years ago. Keep meaning to swap it out as well for something more reflective of my taste, or any taste.
At 3/10/19 01:03 PM, Jackho wrote:At 3/2/19 05:19 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: I pulled down an old Back to the Future poster I must have had up since I was about 16 and put up frame 352 in it's place today.I've still got a BTTF poster up from at least six years ago. Keep meaning to swap it out as well for something more reflective of my taste, or any taste.
Yeah man, I've still got a Rocky one up from about the same time period that will probably never come down. It's behind a TV and partly covered by a shelf and it'd just be too much hassle to move them.
My other wall has MST3K and X-Files up though which I'm perfectly happy with.
Bumping for Midsommar, since it's the first film since this thread died I care about enough to want to talk about.
Spoilers: it's really good.
At 7/4/19 02:30 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: Bumping for Midsommar, since it's the first film since this thread died I care about enough to want to talk about.
Spoilers: it's really good.
Better than Hereditary? That one caught me off guard with how good, and how disturbing, it was. Right up until the cliche-riddled climax and literally the very last bit of dialogue.
At 7/5/19 06:37 PM, Jackho wrote:At 7/4/19 02:30 PM, Absurd-Ditties wrote: Bumping for Midsommar, since it's the first film since this thread died I care about enough to want to talk about.Better than Hereditary? That one caught me off guard with how good, and how disturbing, it was. Right up until the cliche-riddled climax and literally the very last bit of dialogue.
Spoilers: it's really good.
Much better. I had exactly the same problem with Hereditary, especially that fucking preposterous final line clearly added in post to explain the plot to morons who weren't paying attention.
None of that in Midsommar. All slow burn, all the way. There are no chase sequences, no fight scenes, in fact it's missing many of the trappings of the standard horror film. There's bits of gore here and there, which are brutal and all the more impactful for how sparsely they're used, but it's mostly psychological. It's Aster playing to his strengths, everything that worked well in Hereditary is here and everything that didn't is gone.
It reminded me most strongly of Robin Redbreast, another slow burn folk horror from the 70s, and certain aspects recalled Kill List but it'd be a bit spoilery to say what in particular and it's nothing like as intense as that film is in general.
I've seen a lot of people saying it isn't even really a horror movie but rather a psychological drama with some horror imagery thrown in, and while there's some merit to that in that the horror is almost always lurking in the background rather than standing front and centre, the fact that my heart was absolutely racing by the final act says otherwise.
Get it watched.
I saw the movie Black Panther and I hated it . I know it’s about Africans and their secret society, but it just looks racist.
You got dat?
At 8/20/19 11:08 AM, FelixZophar wrote: I saw the movie Black Panther and I hated it . I know it’s about Africans and their secret society, but it just looks racist.
In what way?
